Legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt dies at 64
Pat Summitt, who won more games than anyone in college basketball history, man or woman, died early Tuesday, five years since being diagnosed at 59 with early onset dementia in the form of Alzheimer’s.http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... /86406296/

Legendary former Eagles coach Buddy Ryan dies.
Buddy Ryan was a countrified, colorful and controversial coach who could design a defense and find the talent to man it as well as anyone in NFL history. But his sneering disdain for what happened on the other side of the ball -- and his clashes with team owner Norman Braman -- led to his downfall in Philadelphia.http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/spor ... ntent=link

Garry Marshall, who created some of the 1970s’ most iconic sitcoms including “Happy Days,” “The Odd Couple,” “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy” and went on to direct hit movies including “Pretty Woman” and “The Princess Diaries,” died Tuesday in Burbank, Calif. of complications from pneumonia following a stroke. He was 81.http://variety.com/2016/film/news/garry ... 201817964/

Pete Fountain, the famed New Orleans jazz clarinetist whose 60-year career was marked by performances for presidents and a pope, making him an international ambassador for the music and culture of his hometown, has died. He was 86.

"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."

Longtime ESPN host John Saunders dead at age 61
Saunders hosted studio and play-by-play programming. He covered college football, basketball and the NHL for the network, in addition to anchoring SportsCenter. He was also host of The Sports Reporters.http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/172 ... ied-age-61

Gene Wilder, who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Stir Crazy,” died Monday at his home in Stamford, Conn. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said he died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hugh O'Brian, who shot to fame as Sheriff Wyatt Earp in what was hailed as television's first adult Western, has died. He was 91.

A representative from HOBY, a philanthropic organization O'Brian founded, says he died at home Monday morning in Beverly Hills.

Until "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" debuted in September 1955, most TV Westerns — "The Lone Ranger," ''Hopalong Cassidy," the singing cowboys' series — were aimed at adolescent boys.

"Wyatt Earp," on the other hand, was based on a real-life Western hero, and some of its stories were authentic. (The real Earp, who lived from 1848 to 1929, is most famous for his participation in the 1881 "Shootout at the O.K. Corral" in Tombstone, Arizona.)

"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."

The Executive Director of the West Virginia Broadcasters Association, Michele Crist, announced Friday the passing of a longtime member and southern West Virginia TV station owner, Robert R. "Robbie" Thomas, III.

Crist told WVVA News, "Robbie Thomas was a great example of all that is good about local ownership."

According to his obituary listed on Tyree Funeral Home website, Thomas died Wednesday at Appalachian Regional Hospital in Beckley.

Thomas is the son of the late Robert R. Thomas, Jr., who - according to the station's website - founded WOAY in 1954.

"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."

Before she became known as “America’s Mom” on “The Brady Bunch,” Florence Henderson was an established Broadway star and a frequent presence on television as a singer, a member of NBC’s “Today” show team and the first female guest host of “The Tonight Show.”

But it was for her role as Carol Brady, the calm, problem-solving, yet stylish mother of “The Brady Bunch,” a sitcom about a blended suburban family, that Ms. Henderson became one of the most popular actresses on television.

She died Nov. 24 at a Los Angeles hospital at age 82. Her unexpected death was attributed to “heart failure,” her manager, Kayla Pressman, said in a statement

Fidel Castro, the Cuban despot who famously proclaimed after his arrest in a failed coup attempt that history would absolve him, has died at age 90.

Castro's brother and the nation's President, Raul, announced his death Friday on Cuban TV.
At the end, an elderly and infirm Fidel Castro was a whisper of the Marxist firebrand whose iron will and passionate determination bent the arc of destiny.

The first step in a successful revolution is to defeat all competing revolutionaries.

LOS ANGELES – Ron Glass, the handsome, prolific character actor best known for his role as the gregarious, sometimes sardonic detective Ron Harris in the long-running cop comedy "Barney Miller," has died at age 71.

Glass died Friday of respiratory failure, his agent, Jeffrey Leavett, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

"Ron was a private, gentle and caring man," said Leavett, a longtime friend of the actor. "He was an absolute delight to watch on screen. Words cannot adequately express my sorrow. "

The first step in a successful revolution is to defeat all competing revolutionaries.

Grant Tinker, who produced “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and other television hits in the 1970s and transformed NBC from a perennial ratings loser to a powerhouse of literate, sophisticated network programming that helped change America’s viewing habits in the ’80s, died on Monday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 90.http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/arts/ ... .html?_r=0

Franchisee 'Jim' Delligatti first put the treat on sale at one of his outlets in 1968
By NEAL BAKER and MARK HODGE
30th November 2016
THE inventor of the Big Mac has died at the age of 98.

Michael “Jim” Delligatti came up with the iconic McDonald’s burger nearly 50 years ago.
The franchise-owner from Uniontown Pennsylvania put the stacked treat on sale at one of his restaurants in 1968.

McDonald’s initially did not approve of deviating from its strict formula of simple hamburgers, cheeseburgers and milkshakes.
But the creation of a two-patty burger with lettuce, cheese, gherkins, onions and “special sauce” proved an instant hit, and was rolled out to his other 47 outlets across the US.
McDonald’s spokeswoman Kerry Ford confirmed that Delligatti died at his home in Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh, surrounded by his family on Monday night.
He opened his first McDonald’s restaurant in 1957 and went on to spread the brand across Pennsylvania and beyond.
His son revealed that Delligatti ate at least one 540 calorie Big Mac every week, according to CBS.
In 1970, he invented the Egg McMuffin which paved the way for the breakfast menu which started two years later
Delligatti is said to have created the Hotcakes and Sausage breakfast meal to feed the state’s steelworkers at the end of their night shift.
“Jim was a legendary franchisee within McDonald’s system who made a lasting impression on our brand,” McDonald’s said in a statement announcing his passing.
“We will remember Jim as an insightful franchisee, a knowledgeable businessman, and an honorable gentleman who left a legacy of four generations of family members running great restaurants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.”
In 2007, Delligatti opened the Big Mac Museum in Pennsylvania, with financial help from McDonalds Corp, which included a bust of the burger’s inventor.
But the legendary franchise owner insists he didn’t get a lucrative slice of Big Mac sales.
Speaking with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, he said: “Everybody thinks I did. But no way. All I got was a plaque.”

"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."

Chef Peng Chang-kuei (彭長貴), the founder of the famous Hunan-style restaurant chain Peng's Garden Hunan Restaurant (彭園湘菜館) and inventor of the world famous Chinese dish General Tso's Chicken, died on Nov. 30 at the age of 98 from Pneumonia.

"Everyone Should be aware that you're just a screen grab away from infamy."

John Glenn, American hero, aviation icon and former U.S. senator, dies at 95
His legend is other-worldly and now, at age 95, that’s where John Glenn has gone.
An authentic hero and genuine American icon, Glenn died this afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus after a remarkably healthy life spent almost from the cradle with Annie, his beloved wife of 73 years, who survives.http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories ... glenn.html

Days of Our Lives star Joseph Mascolo died on Wednesday, December 7, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Deadline.com reported on Friday, December 9. He was 87.

The soap opera star, who is best known for his long stint playing criminal mastermind Stefano DiMera on the popular NBC daytime series, was remembered fondly by those closest to him. “Joseph was a big ‘ol bear with a puppy dog heart,” Patricia Schultz-Mascolo, his wife of 11 years, said in a statement. “I’m so blessed to have had these many years with him. I will miss him every day.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former longtime West Virginia congressman and secretary of state Ken Hechler died Saturday at the age of 102, according to friends and various social media reports.
Hechler, a native of New York, served nine terms in Congress from 1959 to 1977. The Democrat began his congressional career after teaching one semester at Marshall. He had grown fond of the Huntington campus while traveling with President Harry Truman. Hechler had served in several positions in the Truman administration.
Hechler was a veteran of World War II and served as a combat historian in the Army. He wrote several books including “The Bridge at Remagen.” He had been an eyewitness to that battle in Germany.
Hechler, who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 at Selma, Alabama, decided not to file for reelection to Congress in 1976, but instead he sought the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor. He was defeated by a fellow transplant from New York, Jay Rockefeller. He ran for secretary of state in 1984 and held the position for four terms.http://wvmetronews.com/2016/12/11/forme ... es-at-102/

We're told Alan had a heart attack while he was playing hockey with his 19-year-old son, Carter. He was transported to Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center around noon today, and pronounced dead there.